Promise
by PlumPocky
Summary: Tokka Week Six: Day Five: Lost. Toph receives alarming news, can she save Sokka in time? One-shot, unless there are more ideas.


**Ermm, so this story takes place a little after the war. The Gaang's split up to rebuild the Earth Kingdom and Water tribe and so everyone's separated. It's meant to be romantic Toph x Sokka, but it doesn't have to be. **

All she cared about was finding him; she didn't care if she was tearing up the forest with her earth wave or if the thunder was making the ground rumble. She had received a messenger hawk earlier that day saying that there was a landslide where Sokka and some of his tribesmen were rebuilding a town (luckily there had been someone nearby to read it to her) and that he was missing. The mountains were coming into view and Toph bit her lip as she prepared to face whatever "sights" that awaited her. She leaped off the earth wave and landed on her feet with a loud thud.

She "saw" some men trying to remove boulders and debris from the heap under the mountainside. Off to the side there were two heavily bandaged Water Tribe men on stretchers. One of them recognized her and called out, "Sifu Toph, is that you? The others are still in there, you've got to save them," he pointed at the pile of rubble.

Without wasting a single second to answer him, Toph dashed toward the group of people trying to clean up, vaguely wondering when Aang and Katara would arrive to help. She bended the earth and metal away like a maniac, tossing the debris and anything that wasn't alive haphazardly aside. Tears pricked at her eyes, but she didn't allow them to fall. _He has to be okay, I won't let anything happen to him. He's going to be okay,_ she mentally chanted while clearing as much rubble as she can. She didn't notice when the rain began to fall like ice cold needles onto her skin and soaking her through.

She had no idea how much time had passed. She had rescued some men, but Sokka was still nowhere to be found. Toph couldn't accept it; she couldn't afford to lose him forever, not after everything they've been through. Her overactive imagination began to form horrifying "images" of Sokka broken and bleeding and _dying_ before her. No, she couldn't, wouldn't, let that happen.

But despite her efforts, she still had limits. After hours and hours on end of constant travelling via earth wave and large-scale earthbending, her legs finally gave out and she sank onto her knees on the muddy ground. With hardly any strength left to earthbend, Toph desperately dug into the rubble with her bare hands, not caring when some the sharp edges of rock and metal cut and scraped at her skin.

"Sokka please, hang on!" She pleaded aloud, not really caring who could hear her anymore."Where are you?" The tears began to spill from her eyes and mingled with the rain on her cheeks. She didn't bother to wipe them away. Her movements became more frantic as questions began popping up in her mind. What if he doesn't make it? What if she doesn't find him? She half-heartedly cursed Aang and Katara for taking so long since they could have been a huge help, Suki too. "Sokka, give me a sign, I'm begging you," she choked back a sob. Crying won't do anything, her more practical side forced her to keep digging and keep searching. "I don't want to lose you."

"You won't," replied a voice that caused Toph to freeze up on the spot. She finally connected the voice to the vibrations she didn't notice earlier in her state of panic. There he was, standing some distance behind her with an umbrella over his head in all his glory, completely dry and uninjured. Sokka smiled softly as the blind girl ran and launched herself at him with newfound strength. He didn't care when his umbrella was knocked from his hand causing his clothes to become soggy and cold with rain. The Water Tribe warrior wrapped his arms around Toph and held her close while she buried her face in the folds of his shirt and cried freely. He rubbed soothing circles on her back as her body wracked with sobs.

"Promise me you'll never scare me like that from now on!" she demanded, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, "I thought I'd never get to see you again." Sokka held her tighter and kissed the top of her head, "I promise, I'm not going anywhere."


End file.
